Otherworld: The Between Cast
by Indicake26
Summary: As the cast of Total Drama: Revenge of the Island tries to leave Wawanakwa, they get pulled into a strange dimension. Now their only hope of escape is to figure out the fate of another cast that disappeared mysteriously. Rated for some swearing, themes of abuse, and disturbing imagery. Starring season 4 Cast with minor roles filled by OCs. Now with easy-to-read line breaks!
1. Prologue: Elena's Sacrifice

Prologue:

She didn't know how long she had been hidden away. Minutes? Years? Enough to pontificate on her hopes and dreams and mourn them as never coming to pass, but not nearly enough to mourn a broken heart. She drew her black and purple robe of mourning around her windblown face and continued to draw lines in the rocky sands of the beach that was her prison. She had seen him be taken by the light, but if the light constituted her only hope..

The girl winced and pulled her hand back from the sands. Something unseen in the ground had cut her, and her hand was starting to bleed.

_No, that's the color of blood, but not how it works. It doesn't come out in strands, like hair. I know this. I was going to be a nurse, I was going to help people who were bleeding; I'd have to know about bleeding._

The realization snapped her back to the world around her. There was something approaching, something foreign. There were lights, one, two lights, in a sea of normalcy. One of the lights..

It was him again. No, it wasn't him, but this new light had the same warm and playful blueish glow. She reached out a hand towards it, causing the sleeve of her robe to shift down, showing her bite scars. The light glowed, it resonated with the scars and she felt her arm erupt in pain. Something primal within her kept her pushing on towards the light, reaching out though what was left of her common sense told her to stay away.

And then she saw the darkness.

_What are you going to do now, Elena?_

She grinned as the question echoed around her being.

_Save him, of course._

Her awareness reeled, pushing her away from the light. That's when she saw it, her first glimpse of the mundane, of the world she once lived in. She grabbed on to something-some one? that had some of the light reflecting of it (him? her?)

She was out. She could escape and run away. But there was no way she was going to. Not with the darkness that she glimpsed earlier. The thing she had ahold of, it was her only hope. That thing..

Thinking quickly, Elena reached into her robe's pockets and pulled out a small token. It had kept her sane, kept her herself, but she knew she had to send something from the Otherworld to fulfil her task.

"Sorry Shaun."

She whispered as she sent her gift whirling into the mundane. For a moment, despair took her. Then memories flooded back.

Books fall, smell of trash and middle school.

_Dude, maybe you're being too rough on her?_

A mix of anger and sadness.

_Naw, it's not like it has feelings._

New smells, sterile smells, work smells, lost eyes.

_What do you think you're doing! Why are you even here!_

Hot rage versus cool indifference.

_What? It's not like they have feelings._

It was like the story of the boy and the starfish that her mother used to tell her. And the apple blossom that Shaun gave her would be her message to the starfish. As she felt her identity slip away with the flower, she held on to her memories for a final moment.

_It's not like it has feelings._

She knew she made the right choice.

* * *

"Zoey? Are you alright?"

"Hmm? Yeah, I'm fine." The redhead mentally shook herself fully awake. "I must have just dozed off. I guess naps can attack anywhere." She smiled at the scene around her. Friends, old friends, new friends, rivals, Scott-who-was-now-easier-to-get-along-with-since-Fang-was-through-with-him, and Mike, who was certainly a friend, but deserved a whole category unto himself. They were all speeding away from the island, ready to spend Cameron's million and return to their everyday lives. Well, maybe not so everyday anymore. They would be famous, after all, and it's not like Zoey would have to face the jocks as a friendless loser now. But still, after the craziness that was Total Drama, it would be nice to return to some level of normalcy. Though, there was that dream she had when she fell asleep. And it wasn't so much falling asleep as much as she felt pulled asleep. She sighed and stuffed her hands into her pockets. Dreams were weird.

"Huh?" Zoey frowned as she pulled an unfamiliar flower out of her left pocket. "Odd, I don't remember taking this with me."

"That's a Malus Pumila, an apple blossom!" Cameron chimed in. "I don't think I even saw any apple trees on the island."

Zoey shuddered. She barely remembered the dream she had, but she felt apple blossoms had something to do with it. Suddenly, the excitement for normalcy turned into a feeling of forboding. Mike and Cameron were looking at her, concerned, but the rest of the campers and Chef Hachet seemed to be otherwise occupied.

"You guys.." She said to Cameron and Mike. "I think I have a bad feeling about this boat right now. I can't explain it, but this flower.."

"C'mon, how bad can it be?" Mike grinned and put a hand on her shoulder, and Zoey couldn't help but smile.

That was when she felt the world spin and reality as she knew it crash into her.


	2. Chapter One: The Arrival

Chapter 1

"Soldiers, assemble!" Brick called through the silence. "Is everyone here, we can't leave a man-or woman, behind. "

"Look around you, Private Pee." Jo growled as she stood up and brushed herself off. "We're all here."

"Duh, but where is here?" Anne Marie said as she sprayed her hair. "And how did we get here?"

The teens and Chef took a moment to look around the area. Their boat, and Cameron's million, were nowhere in sight. They were on a small patch of black sand surrounded by different landscapes. There was a jungle, a rocky beach, something that looked like an abandoned city, some mountains, and a forest. Over their heads was a strange green and purple sky. From the silence that followed, no one could answer Anne Marie's questions. Even Staci was silent. And then..

_Find Ash._

"Sha-what? Did everyone just hear that?" Lightning said as he jumped in shock.

"Find Ash.." Mike tapped his chin, deep in thought. "In Broken Hearts, Bleeding Minds part 2, which was really part 3, one of the character's girlfriends is named Ashley. That character, David, called her Ash. David died near some cliffs without ever seeing her again. That path to the mountains looks like it has some cliffs." He stopped as he noticed everyone staring at him. "What? I can't be the only one here who saw that movie."

"Ok." Jo rolled her eyes. "Does anyone have a plan on where to go that isn't completely insane? We obviously can't just stay here. We need to find our way back to, well, normalcy."

"I feel Mike may be onto something. The voice that told us to find Ash had a very faint aura, but it resonated the most with Mike's." Dawn chimed in.

"Ma'am, with all due respect ma'am." Brick said while saluting. "The high vantage point that the mountains can afford us could prove useful in finding out where we are, ma'am!"

"Yeah, my great great aunt's second cousin once removed invented mountain climbing. Before him people used to just run into the cliff face and knock themselves out." Staci blathered.

"Ok, that's one non-crazy vote for mountains." Jo looked over her fellow contestants and Chef. "Any objections?"

Scott's red light beeped.

"Yeah." Chef growled. "I don't see how Freckle's machine is going to make it past any cliff paths. Or any path, for that matter. He's going to have to stay back, and some one should probably stay with him. Without Chris, I'm the one liable for you brats."

"Oh, uh, I'll stay." Sam looked up from his handheld. "Yeah, I think me staying here would be a good idea."

"Dakota stay with Sam!" Dakota said, hugging Sam so hard he dropped his handheld in the sand.

"And I'm staying too." Chef sat down and crossed his arms. "This whole place is too crazy for my liking. Let me know if you kids find a way back home."

"Alright then." Jo looked over the rest of the contestants. "Any of you want to flake out on me?" After a moment of silence, she was satisfied. "Then let's go!"

The ten remaining campers started walking down the cliff path to the mountains. As they walked, they noticed various things sticking out of the cliffs. There were barrels marked with the symbol for radioactive waste, backpacks, TVs, and other bits and pieces that looked like they were either from the island or from some teen's normal life. After a while, a strange light blue fog started to form around the campers. Suddenly, Mike stopped.

"Hang on.." He said, staring into the distance. "I think I see something." He ran ahead of the group into the obscuring fog.

_ASH!_

Zoey covered her ears as she heard the word screamed. She felt the scream from the flower in her pocket, and she ran forwards, into the fog and towards Mike. After a few seconds, she saw him in a clearing from the fog. In front of him was a trash can, and in the trash can was a red backpack. Zoey saw him reach out and grab one of the backpack's straps.

"Huh? This is.." Mike started to say before Zoey reached him and touched him on the shoulder. Suddenly, the two were hurled back into the fog by an unseen force.

"Zoey! Mike! Are you okay?" Cameron asked as Zoey saw the others reach her and Mike. The fog was gone, and so was the trash can. The clearing now looked like any other part of the cliff path. Zoey sat up and groaned.

"I'm fine... Mike, how are you? Mike!" The teen in question was lying on his back, unmoving, staring up into the sky. His eyes were completely black, even the whites. Zoey grabbed him by the shirt and shook him gently. "What's wrong? Please wake up."

"Hnng.." Mike blinked and his eyes returned to normal. "What happened? The last thing I remember is walking with you guys.."

"You ran off into that horrible blue fog!" Dawn said, a hand covering her mouth. "Zoey went in after you, but the fog was blocking your auras. I couldn't see what happened."

"There was a trash can with a backpack in it." Zoey explained before turning to the rest of the group. "Did you guys see it?"

"Lightning didn't see no trash can." Lightning said, crossing his arms.

"Neither did I." Cameron started. "But the fog was pretty thick before it disappeared. There might have been a trash can with a backpack. I wouldn't put it past this place."

"Well.." Zoey said as she stood up and dusted herself off before offering a hand to Mike. "I'm just glad that voice screamed "Ash" again. For some reason that made me run into the fog."

"Er.. what voice?" Mike asked as he took Zoey's hand to help himself up.

"You all heard it, didn't you?" She asked, turning to the rest of the group. She was met only by blank stares.

"With all due respect ma'am, I only heard one disembodied Ash-voice since coming to this place, and it wasn't a scream." Brick offered.

"You sure you're not kookoo?" Anne Marie asked.

B shrugged helplessly.

"Yeah," Jo said, looking at the rest of them. "I think that scream was just in your head."

"No.." Zoey clenched her fists in frustration. "I know I heard it. I'm not going crazy!"

After the last word, everyone froze. A dark shadow darted behind a rock near the campers, turning the rock a bright green.

"Uh.." Zoey called out, "Nice dark evil turning-rocks-green shadow thing?"


	3. Chapter Two: Reina's Rescue

Chapter 2.

Chef sighed as he played with Sam's handheld videogame. The original owner didn't seem to mind as he was enjoying a make out session with his mutated girlfriend. Now if only..

Beep.

BeepBeep.

Beep.

"Aw, quit your-" Beep "You-" Beep "ing" Beep. Chef glared as the "Beep"s from Scott's machine drowned out his tirade. "What do you want, anyways?"

Beep.

"Well, I should have expected that answer." He shruged and continued playing Sam's handheld. "Stupid kids, running off into this weird bizarro-world and leaving me with Freckles, Pudding, and Dakotazoid. We'll probably be like the others, they'll never find us."

"Wait!" Sam broke free of Dakota's grasp as he heard Chef Hatchet's words. "What do you mean? What others?"

"Why do you think there were only thirteen of you brats? You were the alternates." Chef Hatchet shrugged and tried to go back to the game, but Sam tugged on his arm determinedly.

"Alternates? You mean, there was another cast? What happened?"

"What happened? What happened was they disappeared in the middle of the lake on their way to the island and were never seen again. Now will you please let me finish this game?" He finished with a glare as he tripped Sam, sending the gamer sprawling on the sand.

"Nice shadow, good shadow.."

Zoey tried to keep her voice calm and soothing as she and the others backed away from the rock that had suddenly turned green after a shadow darted behind it.

"Anything you can tell us about that shadow, creepy girl?" Lightning asked Dawn.

"I'll try.." Dawn said before concentrating. "I can see glimpses of her aura, but the negative energy in the air is messing with my abilities."

"Just hurry!" Jo screamed.

"I.. I see that she's like us in a way. She had a connection to the island. She- Augh!" Dawn screamed as the shadow leapt from behind the rock and towards her.

"Hold on!" Brick yelled before stepping in front of the frail aura-whisperer and batting the shadow off to the side. A vaguely humanoid shaped shadow landed in a crumpled heap before standing up again.

"Step aside, time for Lightning to make his move- Sha-zam!" Lightning cried as he pounced on the shadow.

"No!" Dawn called out. "Violence isn't the answer for her! We have to remind her of who she once was."

"And how do we do that?" Cameron asked.

"I-" Dawn started before stopping suddenly. "Reina, that's your name, isn't it?"

The shadow, who was currently fighting off Lightning, Jo, and Brick, froze.

"That's enough to pull you back, right? Your aura is powerful, powerful enough that you were able to last a long time here. I can still sense part of Reina on your aura. That's who you are!"

The shadow let out a cry of anguish and exploded into a brilliant flash of light, sending Jo, Lightning, and Brick reeling back towards the others. When the light died down, a scared looking teenaged girl was in its place. She was slightly shorter than average with black hair and lightly tanned skin. She was dressed in jeans and a pink t-shirt, and was looking up at the group.

"Reina.." She whispered. "That's me. I'm a contestant on Total Drama Revenge of the Island.. I was going there to compete. We were on the boat when we were pulled into this place. That's all I remember- this place, it does something to your mind. It makes you forget who you are, forget what makes you you. One by one, we all were lost. The others- I can't even remember their names, they started turning into these things.. There was only me and one other girl left when I.." She broke down and sobbed into her hands. Zoey and Dawn ran to comfort her.

"Hold the phone." Lightning interupted. "We're the cast of Revenge of the Island. Well, most of the cast, anyway."

"Yeah," Staci started. "My great great brother's uncle's nephew invented casting. Before him, people would just go into the street and kidnap random people to be on reality shows."

"Remind me again why she's with us?" Jo growled, pointing her thumb at Staci.

"Oh!" Reina exclaimed, "I remember you guys now! Before we went on the boat, Chris and Chef showed us your pictures and said that you were the alternates, and if any of us wanted to quit one of you would take our place."

"Alternates?" Mike asked, confused.

"Yup!" Reina grinned. "There were three more pictures though, but I can't remember exactly what they looked like."

"Well that would make sense since we left three of us with Chef." Anne Marie offered.

"That's it!" Jo said, snapping her fingers. "If this shrimp really is part of another cast, I'm sure Chef will know about them. We should head back."

"I agree with your assesment of the situation ma'am." Brick said with a sharp salute.

"One thing before we do.." Mike started. "Reina, do you remember the names of your fellow contestants? We were able to snap you out of your shadow by calling your name, so if you can write down their names, it could help us save them."

"I'm sorry.." Reina hugged herself and looked at the ground. "We didn't talk much, we weren't supposed to talk before the cameras started rolling, and this place does things to your memory."

"No worries shadow-girl." Lightning said, patting Dawn's shoulder. "Creepy girl here can tell us the rest of the names from their orcas."

"It's auras." Dawn corrected him. "And I don't know if I'll be able to do that again. I was barely able to get Reina's name, and if she was the second to last person to lose themselves here, most of the rest will be even harder. I'll try though, I promise."

"We should still try to save everyone." Zoey said, determined. "It might help us find a way out of here."

"Seems like as productive a goal as any here." Jo said, "But first, I think it's time for a little reunion with Chef. Campers, move out!"

Somewhere in the Otherworld, a being of darkness let loose a mind-shattering cry as one of its limbs to the realm of reality was severed. It would have its revenge, yes, that group of new meat wouldn't take any more of his prizes. And he knew just how to do it. He was going to make _her_ suffer. All of his pain, all of his torment was due to her meddling, and now...

_..watch me Elena, I will destroy you._


	4. Chapter Three: Disappearances

Chapter 3

"So, there's nothing else you can tell us?" Zoey asked Reina as the eleven campers made their way back towards the sandy clearing through the strange cliff paths under the green and purple sky.

"No, I'm sorry.." Reina shook her head, then stopped. "Unless.."

"Unless what? Spit it out, Girlie." Jo said as she froze in her tracks and turned to Reina.

"Oh, it's not much." Reina started. "But when we were shown the pictures of the thirteen of you, the girl next to me got this look in her eyes like she recognized one of you."

"Did she say which one of us?" Cameron asked. "I mean, it's probably not me, since I never really met people my own age outside of my bubble."

"I'm sorry." Reina apologized again. "I couldn't tell."

"Well that was useless." Jo crossed her arms and started walking again.

"Not quite.." Mike added. "Do you remember what she looked like, Reina? Maybe one of us will know her from your description."

"That's a great idea Mike!" Dawn clapped her hands together. "If we can figure out who she is, it'll be easier to pull her back from the madness of this place."

"Um.." Reina scratched the back of her head. "She was a little taller than me, and had brown hair about my length."

B looked like he was about to say something, but then shook his head and sighed,

"Anything that really stood out?" Zoey asked.

"No- but, I think she was the one who lasted the longest here, along with me."

Suddenly, a sound of a resonating gong was heard.

"Sarah!" Mike called out.

"Mike, you know the girl just from that? And what was with that gong?" Zoey frowned, confused.

The gong rang again, and the teens except for Mike covered their ears as the sound reverberated.

"No, not the girl, but look! There's Sarah!" He pointed a little ways off the path. Zoey looked in the direction he was pointing, and saw a small but chubby Siamese cat frolicking in a patch of clover.

"Please, please tell me the rest of you can see that?" Zoey begged the rest of the group.

B nodded.

"It's a cat, but there's something wrong with its aura." Dawn added.

The gong rang again.

"Sha-what's that sound?" Lightning asked. "It's hurting my brain!"

"Sarah?" Mike muttered as he walked towards the cat, almost as if in a trance.

"Mike? Remember what happened last time you saw something and ran towards it?" Zoey asked, concerned.

"Er, actually dorkette, he said he didn't remember." Anne Marie cut in.

"Yeah, my great great aunt invented memory loss, before her people used to remember everything." Staci said before the gong rang again, louder this time. "Ow!"

Mike didn't seem to acknowlege the talking behind him. He continued his slow shuffle towards the cat. The gong rang again.

"That sound is doing something to his aura!" Dawn called out. "It's hypnotizing him and making him walk forwards!"

"Never leave a man behind!" Brick yelled determinedly before charging towards Mike. Before Brick could reach him, the cat turned and stared at the cadet, freezing him in his tracks. The gong rang again.

"Mike, no!" Zoey cried as she tried to rush forwards again, but something was holding her still. Suddenly, a symbol of a blue four-leafed clover appeared on the ground as Mike reached Sarah. The gong rang again.

"Mike?" Zoey called one last time, praying he could hear her. The teen stopped and turned back to the group. Zoey gasped. His eyes were completely black again.

The gong rang a final time, far louder than it had before, and in a flash of light blue light, the cat, clovers, and boy were gone.

* * *

"For the hundredth time, yes!" Chef glared at the thirteen teens assembled before him. "There was another cast that this little girl was part of, but their boat to the island disappeared without a trace. That's why we had to use all of you alternates."

"But you don't remember the names of the original cast?" Cameron asked.

"Hey, I don't get paid to remember names." Came Chef's reply.

Zoey sighed and hugged her knees to her chest as she aimlessly drew circles in the sand with her finger. Reina put a sympathetic hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry Zoey, you were all able to save me, I'm sure you can save Mike."

"Thanks Reina." Zoey replied, smiling weakly.

"But what do we do next?" Sam asked. "I mean, I'm not sure how much wandering around aimlessly is going to help us, but just staying here seems like a bad idea too."

"Did your cast start in this black sandy area too?" Cameron asked Reina.

"Yes." She answered. "We did. In fact.." She stood up and walked to a particular spot. "It was right here- augh!" She held her hands to her head in anguish.

"Reina!" Brick cried, but his cry was soon drowned out by an odd scraping noise.

A blue portal grew and stretched where Reina was standing. The remaining cast could see her outline, and then she disappeared.

"Not again!" Zoey held her hands to her face.

"It's okay!" Reina's voice called out. Everyone looked around, but they couldn't see the source. "I'm back in the real world, and I remember everything that happened. I'm on the boat for our cast, but it's empty in the water, just the way we left it. Listen, I don't know how long I'll be able to talk to you, so I'll try to tell you the most important stuff. You need to find Elena, she was the one who lasted the longest. Benjamin hated her, he was the first to turn. He recognized her because they were from the same town." Reina's voice was fading. "She caused his dad to lose his job at the ... where she worked part-time as ... He was ... so she ... and now he wants to destroy her! One of you knew her from... it must have been ... since ... . You have to stop him! Save the others! You can find the twins in the jungle!"

Her voice was gone, and the rest of campers and Chef looked at each other awkwardly.

"So.." Jo broke the silence. "Jungle then?"


	5. Chapter Four: Respite and Strategy

Chapter 4

"Sha-wait!" Lightning interupted. "Didn't Shadow-girl say the girl with her was named Elena? And she was the one who recognized one of us? Doesn't that mean one of us should know an 'Elena' around our age?"

"Makes sense." Jo said, patting Lightning on the back. "Good work, maybe you do have a brain in that head with all that ego."

"Yeah! I mean-what?" Lightning glared.

"Guys, let's not fight. We need to figure out which one of us knows Elena." Cameron pleaded. "So, does that name sound familiar to anyone?"

Silence.

"Anyone?"

"Yeah, my great-great uncle Billy invented the name Elena for his daughter. Before him, people were called Foofoomonkey instead."

"Seriously, anyone? Scott?"

Beep.

"Was that a yes beep or a no beep?"

"I don't see any trace from an 'Elena' on his aura, it must have been a 'no' beep." Dawn contributed helpfully.

"B?"

The large camper shook his head.

"Anyone?"

Silence again.

"Well this is worse that useless." Jo frowned. "This means Reina was wrong. We don't even know if we can trust her that she escaped."

"Not quite." Cameron cut in. "We're missing one. Elena could have recognized Mike from somewhere."

"You think she was Mike's girlfriend from back home or something?" Brick asked.

"Impossible." Dawn answered. "I could tell from his aura that Zoey was the one he had feelings for." She smiled at the redhead, who was quiet and forlorn. "It's entirely possible she was a friend though, or even just an aquaintance."

"What are you talking about, freakshow? Vito only has eyes for me!" Anne Marie glared at Dawn. The small aura reader opened her mouth to speak, but was cut off as the otherworld seemed to roar and tremble in pain as the ground shook.

"Earthquake procedures!" Brick called out. "Everyone watch out for falling objects."

"Um, I don't think this is an earthquake." Sam said as he took shelter underneath Dakota. "I don't think we're anywhere on Earth."

"Sam so smart!" Dakota said, grinning and hugging him.

"Looks like it's dying down." Cameron said nervously. It was true, in fact. The earthquake, or whatever the otherworldly shaking was, had quieted down.

"Yeah, my great-great cousin invented earthquake safety. Before her, people would run out into the streets and die during every earthquake." Staci mentioned.

"Guess it didn't like me calling it a freak." Anne Marie crossed her arms. "You're still, freaky, freaky place."

"Uh.. ma'am, I would advise against angering this place further." Brick cautioned, but the otherworld seemed quiet for now.

"So, where were we?" Jo asked. "I don't know about the rest of you, but I'm not holding all my hopes on what Reina said."

"What about what happened to her?" Cameron asked. "She definitely went somewhere when she stood where she first appeared. Does anyone here remember where they were when we first got transported here?"

B nodded and stepped over to a certain location in the sand. The rest of the group held their breath as they waited for something to happen, but nothing did. B shrugged.

"Now what do we do?" Sam asked.

"I guess looking for twins in the jungle is as good of an answer as any." Brick offered.

Beep.

"But Scott's going to have to stay back again." He concluded.

"I'm staying too." Chef said as he looked up from Sam's handheld. "This place is a bit too weird for my tastes, and I have some pretty weird tastes."

"Can I have that back?" Sam asked. Chef shook his head. "Well, I guess I'll go with you guys this time."

"Dakota go too!" The mutant stated firmly.

"Yeah, my great great gre-" Staci started, but was interupted as Jo pushed her next to Chef.

"I don't care what anyone says, you're staying."

Beep. Beepbeep. Beep.

"I just said I don't care!" Jo glared at Scott, who ceased his beeping. Cameron walked over to Zoey.

"Do you want to stay back? This has to be hard.." He asked.

"No." She shook her head with determination. "Mike's out there somewhere, and I want to help find him. I don't even care if he has another girlfriend, I just want him to be safe."

"Then we have our group." Jo said as she started walking towards the jungle. "Let's move!"


	6. Chapter Five: Into the Jungle

Chapter 5

The ten campers who had set off into the jungle had been trecking for about half an hour. Dakota was in front, using her strength to clear any nagging vines, while Zoey brought up the rear with a new bow she was able to find materials to make. Like the mountain path, the jungle was littered with strange objects, either from a teenager's life or from the island.

"I wonder if any of these things work. I only had the one handheld." Sam sighed as he walked up to a console attached to a TV.

"Er, gamer-boy?" Anne Marie cut in. "I think we can assume from what happened to Vito that touching things here is a bad idea."

Sam sighed and joined the rest of the group. They continued on for a bit when B suddenly held Dakota back by an arm.

"Wait!" Dawn called. "B sees something dangerous."

The others looked as B pointed to the path in front of them. Cameron inched forwards cautiously.

"It's a hypodermic needle!" Cameron exclaimed, pointing at it on the ground.

"A what?" Asked Lightning.

"Oh, you know, the thing they use to give shots." Cameron explained helpfully.

"Oh? That! Lightning's not afraid of no needle. I'll move it out of the way." He stepped forwards.

"What did we just say about touching things?" Jo cried out, moving to stop him. However, it was too late, Lightning touched the body of the syringe.

* * *

The girl was running through the hallways, terrified. She was lost, completely and utterly lost. Some of the people in the halls looked at her strangely, but most were focused on their own tasks. She took one turn, then another. Please, please let this next turn be the way back to Mom..

"Oof!" She cried as she slammed into some one. "Ah.. sorry."

The some one in question, a surly looking janitor, looked her up and down. "Are you lost little Missy? Are you one of the patients here."

The girl felt the knot of terror start to release. "I'm, I'm not a patient. My mom works here. She-"

"Don't worry." A kindly voice came from behind her. The girl turned and saw a handsome man in a lab coat holding a clipboard. He was tall and slim, with slicked back brown hair. He looked about the same age as her mother. "You must be terrified. Who am I talking to? Gerta?"

The girl was confused. "No, my name's Elena. I-"

"Elena." He smiled warmly and made a note on his clipboard. "Don't worry, I'll take you back." He held out his hand and Elena took it nervously.

"Er, Doc?" The janitor asked, cautiously. "I don't think she's the new arrival. She said her mother was an employee."

"Bill, you're scaring her." The doctor frowned. "Come on, I'll take you back and you can tell me all about Elena."

"But.. but I am Elena.." The girl managed.

"Ah, right you are." The doctor winked at her. "Let's go." He pulled her gently but firmly by the hand towards one of the rooms. Elena didn't know why, but she felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up. The knot of terror was growing again.

"Where are you taking me?" Elena asked. "Where's Mom?"

"Don't worry about your mother." Came the doctor's reply. "I'll be taking you to your new room for a while." They stepped into a room that looked like a standard pediatric examination room, but with some changes. There was an IV that looked ready to be used, restraints on the examination bed, and a wheelchair in the corner. Elena could feel the terror rising. She tried to pull her hand away from the doctor's, but his grip was stronger.

"No!" She cried. "I'm not a patient!"

"Shh.." The doctor said before calling into the hallway. "Nurse, we're going to have to sedate her!"

"No! Stop it!" Elena could feel tears of panic running down her cheeks. She dug her nails into the doctor's hand until he released her, and then ran. A large, burly nurse caught her before she could leave the room, and in a matter of seconds there were arms and hands restraining her.

"There's a mistake!" She screamed as she watched the doctor move towards her with a hypodermic syringe. "Stop it!" She felt a pinch as she saw the needle go into her arm. She kept on struggling, she wasn't going to give up..

Then blackness.

"Zoey? Zoey, snap out of it?" Cameron called.

"Huh." Lightning frowned as he set the syringe down away from the path. "I guess it's safe to touch some of the things here."

"Zoey? Are you okay?" Cameron waved his hand in front of her face.

"Huh? Did... did none of you guys see that?" Zoey asked.

"See what?" Anne Marie retorted.

"The girl? She was in a hospital, and I think she was lost.."

B stared at Zoey blankly and shook his head. The rest of the group looked equally confused.

"You just zoned out for a couple seconds. Are you sure you're alright?" Cameron asked.

Zoey opened her mouth to speak, but was silenced by a strange whirring noise. Something that looked like a cannonball came flying towards her.

"Watch out!"

There was no time to react. The ball hurled towards Zoey, but an unseen force stopped it in front of her. It fell to the ground harmlessly.

"What was that?" Anne Marie asked.

"Well, we know those things can't hurt us now." Jo grinned. "Bring it on, cannonballs!"

As if to torment her, another cannonball came hurling towards Jo. This one knocked into the jock, sending her sprawling to the ground.

"Oof.." Jo muttered. "How did you block that earlier one, Red?"

"I don't know." Zoey looked around. "It just stopped. Everyone should probably get behind me, I mean, if it's okay with you guys."

"Ok-ness granted!" Brick said as he and the others rushed behind Zoey, keeping her between them and the source of the cannonballs. A couple more cannonballs flew towards the group, but the stopped when they were about to hit Zoey.

"We should find where the cannonballs are coming from!" Dawn advised.

"Excellent plan recruit." Brick said. "We should move."

"Ok, here we go!" Zoey walked forwards in the direction of the cannonballs with the rest of the campers behind her. As more and more of the cannonballs stopped in front of her, a faint smell of apples could be detected in the air. After a while, the campers could see the top half of a pirate ship sticking out of the ground. Two shadowy figures took turns firing a cannon towards them.

"Everyone.." Jo said, "I think we just found the twins."


	7. Chapter Six: Healing and Destruction

Chapter 6

"Yeah, my great great uncle John invented videogames. Before him, people would just play outside or sit around and be bored." Staci informed Chef.

"Mmmhmm." Chef muttered as he continued playing Sam's handheld.

"Yeah, and after him, my second cousin James made them portable."

"Good for you."

"Yeah, and then-"

"Aww come on!" Chef screamed in frustration as the screen to the handheld went blank. "Damn it, it must be out of batteries."

"Yeah, my-" Staci started, but Chef stopped her.

"If it's any invention besides pulling new batteries out of thin air, you better shush it Missy!"

Staci looked down and frowned.

"Ah, here's an idea." Chef looked around. "Why don't I see if Freckles' machine has any spare batteries?" He paused. Scott was nowhere to be seen. "Wait, where is Freckles?"

Both Chef Hatchet and Staci walked around the black sand area in a search that soon turned frantic. There weren't many places for an incapacitated teen to hide, and the two quickly ruled out the possibility of Scott being in the area.

"Well damn it! What are we supposed to do now?" Chef threw his hands in the air in exasperation. "Guess all there is is to wait for the rest of the brats to come back. It's been a while, they'll probably want a safe-ish place to sleep for the night."

"Yeah, if only my great great sister Helen was here. She invented homing beacons for trauma robots."

Chef sighed and sat back down on the sand. This was going to be a long wait.

* * *

"Ben...ja..min.."

Scott didn't know where he was, or how he got there. He didn't even know if he was dreaming or awake. He tried moving his arms, his legs, anything besides that one finger that was left to press the buttons..

Beep.

Well, that was disappointing. Probably awake then, unless he was going to start dreaming he was a cripple too. That would suck. At least he still had his mind. Even if he couldn't move, he could think. He studied his memory for anything that could have brought him to this new place. He was waiting with Chef and the blabbermouth, thinking of how much he hated them. He hated Staci for droning on and on in that stupid voice of hers, staring blankly with those dumb brown eyes. He hated Chef for ignoring him, for leaving Scott to his misery while he got at least some entertainment. He hated...

And then he was here. The rest of his memories for recent events were foggy, unreadable. He tried to look around, but his machine was on the ground, facing towards the sky. At least that was still purple and green, though he would have preferred blue.

"You.."

He sensed the other presence before he heard it. Wherever he was, some one was with him. He didn't know how he felt it, but something about the thing, the voice, seemed wrong, inhuman. He tried to squirm away, but couldn't manage much.

Beep. Beep. Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep beepbeepbeep.

The thing was coming closer to him. He could hear the footsteps and feel the- pressure? Dread? Was this what Dawn meant when she said things had auras? It stopped and looked over Scott. For the first time since his last encounter with Fang, Scott was glad his vocal cords were immobilized. It wouldn't do to be heard screaming like a little girl.

Speaking of girls, this thing probably was one, once. Her features were twisted by grotesque shadows that warped her face. Fortunately, she was wearing some sort of black scarf, so the face was all Scott could see.

Beeeeeeeeep.

He was helpless. Whatever that thing wanted to do to him, he couldn't stop it.

"Help.." The thing croaked. Scott would have laughed if he were able. How was he going to help anyone?

"Me.. help you.." It continued before putting a gnarled hand on Scott's forehead.

Scott felt, rather than saw, an explosion of light blue light. The thing had extended some odd power into his being, and Scott could sense it trying to fix his broken body. But something was holding it back.

"Let me... let me help you.." He could hear.

That's when Scott realized: for this thing to be able to mend him, Scott would have to open his mind to it, to allow it access to his thoughts, his feelings, his memories.

_No..._

That was the last thing Scott wanted. He didn't even know if this thing was human, no way he was going to let it use some strange memory-feely power on him. But then, if it worked... if he was free of this machine..

_Ok, fine._

Scott gave in.

There was another flash of blue light, and he could feel the thing's outermost thoughts. She was running down memorized lists of organs, of body parts, fixing them in Scott's body as they came into her mind.

_Yes!_

Scott could feel his hands again, his legs and knees and heart and breathing-parts and other weird things work on their own. He was detaching from the machine. It almost made him want to take Biology to learn what all these things were so he could thank the weird creature properly for fixing them- almost. The thing was pulling back, letting the weird power exit Scott's body, when..

it stopped. Scott could feel that the thing had found something in his memories that intrested it. Scott struggled to regain control of his mind as the thing's power searched deeper. It had found something..

"NO!" The thing let out a pained shriek and Scott used the opportunity to pull his mind back from the creature's grasp. Scott rolled on the rocky sand that was under his back and scrambled to his feet. The thing now looked more shadow-y and less human-y than before.

"What did you find in my brain?" He demanded. "C'mon, surely everyone's put laxatives in their teacher's coffee at some point. Was it the time I scammed this sucker at school into thinking the hot sauce was tomato juice? What made you so mad!"

"Ben.." The creature growled. "Ben..ja..min."

"No, it's Scott." He yelled. Before either of them could react, Scott felt a strange portal open in the back of his mind. If he wanted to, if he thought about it, he could return to the place he was before with the black sand. Well, it certainly wasn't one of his top ten vacation spots, but it beat beach-with-a-freak any day of the week. He closed his eyes and made the mental leap. "So long, sucker!"

* * *

"Whoa!" Zoey struggled to maintain her balance as the otherworld shook again beneath her feet. One of the shadowy twins dropped the cannonball he was holding and started chasing after it as it rolled away. She noticed this one was bigger than the others, and a mean color of red.

"Now's our chance!" Brick called. "Zoey, protect everyone staying back! Dawn, let us know anything you can from their auras!"

"Alright!" Zoey nodded as she notched an arrow to her bow.

"Understood." Dawn said before closing her eyes in concentration.

"Dakota will get them!" The mutant growled before looking to her boyfriend. "Sam be safe?"

"Don't worry, I'll stay behind Zoey." He assured her. Dakota grinned before charging at the twin chasing after the cannonball.

"Everyone else, take the other one!" Jo called out and ran at the shadow who was hopelessly trying to steady the cannon. Lightning and Brick followed her.

"Sha-whoa!" Lightning cried as the otherworld-quake knocked him off balance. He fell to the ground with a thud, but Brick, Jo, and Dakota were able to keep their footing.

"I can see they were twins once.." Dawn muttered. "They had a deep bond that lasted until this place took them. I.. I can't see any more."

B frowned, deep in thought.

The twin chasing after the odd cannonball caught his quarry and managed to dodge Dakota's swipes to run back towards the ship. The shaking on the ground stopped, which startled Dakota, causing her to fall on her bottom with an "Oof!"

Brick and Jo were wrestling with the other twin, but when the shaking stopped it was able to use the shock to throw both of them off. Both the shadow twins ran to the cannon and jumped excitedly before starting to load it.

"Everyone, get back behind me!" Zoey called out. "Huh?" She asked as B tapped her on the shoulder, gesturing for her to give him her bow and arrow. "You want these? Ok, I guess." She handed them over.

"Nnngh, Lightning won the Super Bowl.." Lightning muttered, still stunned. The twins cackled and the one aiming the canon pointed it at the dreaming jock.

"Never leave a man behind!" Brick yelled and jumped in front of Lightning, ready to take the blow.

"No!" Cameron cried. "Get behind Zoey! At this range, a cannon will kill both of you! In the real world, anyway.."

"Brick!" Jo called out, her voice full of concern.

"Huh? Jo?" The cadet turned back to look at her, when..

plink!*

B fired an arrow at the cannon's aiming mechanism. It skewed the cannon's path, causing it to fire at the non-aiming twin.

BOOM*

The explosion shook the trees and vines of the jungle. Everyone threw their hands in front of their face for protection. When the smoke died down, the twin who was hit was standing. Seething with palpable silent rage, he walked over to an unfamiliar red haired boy with a medium build who was where the cannon-aiming shadow used to be, on his knees, holding his hair in his fists.

"Kenneth.. I'm so sorry!" The boy cried. "I didn't want to hurt you.."

The remaining shadowy figure held up a hand to swipe at the boy. Suddenly, the shadows surrounding him dissolved, and he became another redhaired boy with a stong resemblence to the one on the ground.

"Leonard?" He choked on his words. "Leonard! I was just about to attack you. I, I'm the one who should be sorry. Huh?" He looked around at the scene surrounding him. "We're human again!"

"Great work B!" Dawn beamed. "Having them attack each other snapped them back to themselves!"

B smiled and handed the bow back to Zoey before wiping his hands on his jacket.

"Whu?" Lightning frowned as he woke up. "Did we win?"

* * *

"You're sure that'll work?" Kenneth frowned, wrinkling his forehead. The ten campers and their two rescue-ees were headed back through the jungle to the sandy area where they first arrived.

"It worked for that Reina chick." Anne Marie said with a shrug. "She stood where she first arrived and wham, back to the real world. Was able to tell us all sorts of hints from the memories she got back too."

"Like they were any help." Jo glared and crossed her arms. "We still don't know anything about anyone named Benjamin or Elena."

"But she told us where to find Kenneth and Leonard." Cameron interjected.

"Wait!" Zoey stopped in her tracks. "Elena, that was the name of the girl I saw when Lightning moved the syringe."

"Well, why didn't you tell us sooner?" Jo rounded on Zoey angrily.

"Save it for when we get back, we're almost there." Anne Marie interupted, continuing on. Suddenly she froze.

"Did you hear that voice?" She asked nervously.

"I think I heard some one's voice." Sam replied. "It was really high-pitched and nasally, it almost sounded like-"

"For the last time! I'm not telling you two how I got healed! Not like you'd believe me anyways." There was no mistaking it.

"Scott!"


	8. Chapter Seven: Trapped in Illusion

Chapter 7

((Credit goes to PerfectHottie from the Total Drama wiki for letting me use Lea and helping me develop her for this fic.))

"So this girl healed you, and then you just left her there?" Zoey couldn't believe her ears as she glared daggers at Scott. The group was sitting in a circle, listening to Scott's strange tale.

"Hey, there wasn't a lot I could do, Princess." Scott said as he shrugged. "One. Every man for himself. Two, it's not like I had the option to take her with me. And three, that thing wanted me dead. I could tell." He stretched his hands and arms, still getting used to the feeling of moving them. "I mean, I don't want to sound ungrateful, I'm glad she used her strange evil powers to make me better, but there wasn't much choice in the matter."

Zoey grumbled and hugged her legs to her chest. She understood why Scott did what he did- if his story was true. She was just worried sick over Mike. There had been no sign of him since his disappearance, not that she'd know where to go looking anyways. Saving the other cast was all well and noble, but she just wanted to see him again, to feel his hands on her shoulders and hear his laugh and watch him smile and..

_Please be safe, where ever you are._

* * *

"Zoey? Where are you? Where is everyone?" Mike called out, confused. He had just woken up from his nap? Trance? Whatever it was. It felt different from the strange cloud that usually obscured his mind when one of his other personalities was in charge. It wasn't like he was asleep, either. Well, it was something he could think about later. For now, he had bigger concerns. He was lying on a floor made of concrete. There was a dome of black glass sealing off his part of the concrete floor, trapping him under the dome in a prison about ten meters wide and five meters high. The black glass was opaque, he couldn't see anything outside. Where ever he was, he was trapped.

"Mike!" He heard a familiar voice call out behind him. He turned around.

"Elena? You're here?" The girl standing behind him smiled sweetly at Mike's reply. She was about Mike's age, average height, and a slightly chubby build. She had short brown hair tied back in a small ponytail except for some stray strands that fell in front of her face. She was wearing a long black shirt, khaki pants, and short grey boots.

"Yup, I'm here. I'm so glad I was able to find you!" Her smile spread to her kind hazel eyes. "Don't worry, I'm here to help!"

"You mean, you can get me and the others out of here?" Mike asked, cautiously optimistic.

"Yes," she replied, "But I'll need your help. You need to give your mind to the chaos of the Otherworld. Surrender yourself to the darkness, and the path to freedom will be clear."

Mike chuckled, "That sounds like something Airic would say. 'Surrender yourself to the darkness!'" He mimicked, pantomiming maniacal laughter.

"Airic?" Elena asked, confused. Mike froze.

"Yeah.." He said uneasily. "The main villain from the Bleeding Minds series. Your favorite movies, or should I say Elena's favorite movies." He tried not to panic, but there was no way Elena wouldn't get the reference. He slowly stepped away from the girl- or whatever it was. "I know I saw Sarah before coming here. If this place can make an illusion of Sarah, what's stopping it from making an illusion of Elena?"

"Heh.." Elena chuckled, but not in her normal soft and girly voice. The sound was deeper and far more masculine. "You're too smart for your own good, you little freak!"

Elena, or the illusion, was gone. In its place stood a shadowy figure, similar to the one that had turned into Reina. This one, however, was taller and burlier.

"Her protection over you can't last forever. If you won't voluntarily submit, I'll just bring the pain until your mind breaks. It's a pity." The creature twisted its features into something that resembled a smirk. "It would have been so much easier, so much less painful for you if you gave in. Ah well, can't say I won't enjoy this!"

"You.." The voice sounded familiar, but Mike couldn't quite make it out. "Who are you? What do you want?"

"You don't remember?" The creature started to fade into shadowy wisps. "You've already forgotten your old buddy Benjamin? I'll just have to remind you about the fun times we had, now won't I?"

"Wait!" Mike cried out, but the shadow that once was Benjamin disappeared into the darkness. Mike sank to his knees. "Somebody? Anybody? I need to get out of here.."

* * *

"So, we just stand right there?" Kenneth asked, looking a little nervous.

"Unless you want to stay here and be monster bait." Scott said, shrugging, as he looked for something he could use to whittle.

"Just remember to tell us everything you can about the person- or people- who were transformed before you were." Cameron instructed.

"Yeah, and whatever else you think will help us deal with this place." Anne Marie added.

"Ok." Leonard said as he took a deep breath. "Let's go."

The twins stepped forwards and the strange scraping sound started up again. Everyone covered their ears and watched as a portal swallowed them up. There was silence for a moment, and then…

"We're here! It worked- Ow, Reina, stop hugging us!"

"I don't know if they can hear you Reina. Hang on, we need to tell them about Lea!"

"Yeah, the next girl you're looking for is called Lea. She turned into a shadow while we were near a lake in the forest. She's a bit of a hopeless romantic, but she was pretty nice. Slight control freak though."

"I don't know what made her turn, or what might turn her back to herself. You guys will have to figure that out!"

"Oh, one more thing! She and Elena were always talking about some weird action adventure movie series. It got annoying near the end, but I think it helped keep both of them sane."

"Yeah… something…. Lea's middle name… reversed…"

"Think… fading… stop… Ben-"

The voices stopped and the twins were gone from the Otherworld.


	9. Chapter Eight: Those Left Behind

Chapter 8

"Then that settles it," Jo began, "We're going to the forest next to find this Lea girl."

"Do you think we should go out again?" Cameron asked. "I mean, we've been here a while. Even if it doesn't get dark here, won't we start to get tired soon?"

"I'm not tired!" Jo looked around at her fellow cast members. "Are any of you tired?"

"No ma'am." Brick shook his head. "Not one bit!"

"Yeah, I don't feel tired, or hungry, or anything. I don't even need to go to the bathroom." Anne Marie mused. "In fact, I don't think anyone's taken a bathroom break or eaten anything since we got here, and it's been hours."

"Then our physical needs must be different in this world." Cameron suggested. "That's good, since I have no idea what we'd eat here."

"Good news for you, Brickster!" Jo said, slapping the cadet's back. "No bathroom accidents to worry about!" Brick blushed and looked like he was about to say something, but decided against it. Zoey decided to speak up to draw attention away from the poor embarrassed Brick.

"So, I guess we're going then?" She asked hopefully, playing with the fletching on one of her arrows.

"Yep. Let's roll." Jo started off towards the forest.

"So, who's staying back with me this time?" Chef asked as he sat down in his usual spot.

"Uh, no one has to stay back." Brick offered. "We don't need anyone to stay with Scott anymore. He can come with us."

"Yeah," Scott said, rolling his eyes, "Because you guys did a _great_ job of guarding me last time. Absolutely no evil monsters teleported me away and read my mind while I was weak and helpless."

"Hey, if you'd rather we stopped you from going and getting fixed, I can break you back into that machine." Chef said with a growl.

"Sheesh, point taken." Scott said and shrugged.

"Anyways, I'm still staying here." Chef said. "Whatever's out there seems to be nasty, and I want no part of it. No way am I gonna end up like that weird spikey-haired kid."

"Fine." Jo replied. "We'll just save everyone ourselves. And we'll be sure to tell the lawyers later how concerned you were for us minors."

"And that'll be Chris' problem. Now go on, find your foresty-lake and leave me in peace."

The campers looked at each other and shrugged.

"Yeah," Staci said happily, "My great aunt Edna invented child endangerment lawsuits, before her-"

"You! Stay with Chef." Jo commanded.

"No way!" Staci protested. "I want to help you guys!"

"I sense that she does have skills that will come in handy in this place." Dawn contributed.

"Not. Helping." Jo said to Dawn through gritted teeth.

"If we need some one to stay with Chef, I could stay back again." Sam volunteered.

"Lightning's not staying anywhere, Lightning's gotta be on the move!"

"Guys, there's no need for anyone to stay who doesn't want to." Zoey said, trying to remain calm and diplomatic though she was starting to lose her patience with worry. "If Chef wants to be alone, let's let him, and we'll all go find Lea. Please?" She begged.

"That course of action is advisable." Brick said firmly.

"Then enough wasting time." Jo started towards the forest again. "The sooner we save Lea, the sooner she can tell us more about this place, the sooner we can find our way out."

* * *

"Ha! Suckers!" The teens had been gone for a couple hours and Chef was finally enjoying some peace and quiet. He would have preferred having the handheld work again, but at least he could be alone with his thoughts.

"You're boring." Chef jumped in the air and crossed his legs to stop himself from wetting his pants with shock.

"Who said that?" Chef growled, trying to sound as intimidating as possible. A boy was sitting cross-legged nearby on the black sand. He was slightly taller than average, with brown hair a few centimeters long. He had a slim build and was neatly dressed. There was something about him, something familiar..

"You! You're one of those little brats we had in the first cast!"

"Oh bravo." The boy sneered, his words dripping with sarcasm. "I'm honored you remember me, Hatchet."

"What was your name again?" Chef scratched his head.

"It's Benjamin, BENJAMIN!" The boy screamed. "You didn't know anything about me, you never cared to! You replaced me so easily. I bet you didn't even tell my parents!" His brown eyes seethed with hatred. "You left the entire cast here to die, but that's not the worst of it!" His hands balled into clenched fists. "When _she_ found out what you did to Chris, how you helped the campers, it gave her enough strength to resist being pulled under when she found out the truth about that kid she healed. _I almost won, _and you took that away from me."

"I have no flying clue what you're talking about!" Chef protested.

"That's the Otherworld for you." Benjamin shrugged. "Actions in the past, feelings about the present, ambitions for the future: they get pulled into a web mere mortals cannot see. I was blind to the Otherworld once, but now that the fabric between the two worlds has started to fray, it can grant us power beyond our imagining. Imagine it, Hatchet, a chaotic swirl of thoughts and dreams all ripe to drain power from. I threw myself into the vortex, and now nothing here can defeat me."

"So, uh, you crazy or something?" Chef raised an eyebrow.

"How dare you!" Benjamin's form warped and twisted into a spiral of shadows. The voice came from the creature, but no visible mouth opened. "I'm not crazy! I'm better than those crazies! No one can say otherwise! Not you! Not Elena! And not Father! I'll show you all, nobody will look down on me once I'm through with this place!"

Chef took an uneasy step back before turning and running away in a full sprint. He made it five steps before the shadows caught up to him. As he was dragged into the chaos, he called out in one brief cry of sanity:

"Chris! I am so getting a raise for dealing with this!"

* * *

"Just like survival class in military school!" Brick grinned as the forest opened up into a clearing with a lake. "I told you I'd be able to find a water source. Looks like this place has some things in common with the real world."

"Not bad!" Anne Marie called.

"Great job Brick!" Zoey beamed.

B smiled and gave the cadet a pat on the back.

"Yeah, great work." Jo said unenthusiastically, "Now when are you going to learn to track evil shadow-campers?"

"Um, give me time.." Brick crouched to the ground and looked at the dirt. "We should check for any signs of broken plants. Of course, footprints would be a dead giveaway. If only.." He started, but was quickly cut off by Jo yelling.

"Look out!" The jock ran into Brick, knocking him into the water. Before anyone could react, a shadow crashed into Brick's previous location. The creature stood up and growled, deprived of its prey.

"I don't think we need to track her anymore.." Sam called out warily.


	10. Chapter Nine: Agony

Chapter 9

"Stop it!" Mike cried as he clasped his hands to his head. He felt like some one was using a battering ram against his skull and his sanity. Memories flashed before him in a blur. He could see them again, relive them again. He felt his body slam into the concrete and ache from the impact. He wasn't sure anymore if it was the concrete floor of his prison or the sidewalk he was beat up on in his memories. Still, no matter what happened, no matter what mental torture this place dragged him to, he could feel a fortifying presence in the back of his mind, protecting him.

And then it wavered.

Something was able to slip past the mental blockade and into Mike's mind. It merged with something already there in the back of his head. And then he felt a sensation he hadn't felt since before his elimination on the island.

A personality took over.

* * *

_No.._

The beast roared in pain, sending reverberations throughout the Otherworld.

_Not this, anything but this.._

There was no hope left, none at all. It just had to give up, give up and surrender to the pain, to the madness.

_He's gone, what good will holding on do anyone?_

There were still others out there, but it couldn't fight anymore. This blow was just too much.

_Ash, it's up to you to save everyone now. I'm sorry I couldn't be that one._

Elena's identity and sanity disappeared into the chaotic vortex of the Otherworld as her transformation to a Remnant became complete.

* * *

A dark-skinned boy and a light-skinned brunette girl, neither of them older than 13, sat next to each other on the edge of a hospital bed, looking up at the TV for the inpatient room. The movie had ended, the credits were rolling, and the girl was tearing up.

"That's how they end part two?" The boy asked. "David just dies?"

"We don't know if he's dead!" The girl protested. "There was a flash of light- something could have saved him!"

"Is he in the next part then?"

"No.." The girl looked down. "You don't see him again. The don't mention him again. The series isn't over though! There's still hope!"

"Wow.." The boy chuckled weakly. "You weren't kidding when you said you were a big fan."

"Anyhoo!" The girl stood up abruptly. "We were going to only watch the one movie. We need to start studying!" She walked over to her backpack on the ground and rummaged through it, pulling out a couple of school books. An audio recorder fell out.

"Gah, crud!" The girl picked it up.

"What's that for?" The boy asked. "I mean, I know it records people, but why do you have one?"

"It's a school project. We had to- Hey!" The girl wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and grinned mischievously.

"What's wrong, Elena?"

"Mike, remember how David's best missions were recon?"

"Yeah?" The boy responded, confused.

"And how you kinda look like him?"

"Yeah?"

Elena's grin grew.

"If you're up for it, I have a plan to take down Doctor Bilekk once and for all. It's stupid, but completely awesome!"

Mike laughed.

"If it's anything like the rest of your plans, I'm in!"

The image of the two children blurred and faded away into nothingness.

* * *

Zoey managed to quickly get to her feet after being knocked down by the world shaking. She didn't have time to ask if the other campers saw the scene she just saw. They had to deal with Lea- or with what Zoey assumed once was Lea. The creature had also been knocked down, but was quickly getting to its feet.

"Was that little Vito in the hospital with the Elena chick?" Anne Marie asked. Well, Zoey figured she wasn't the only one who saw the scene this time.

"Now's not the time, Helmet-hair!" Scott called as he stood squaring off against the shadow. The creature growled and took a couple steps forwards. Scott shuddered and reached into his pockets, pulling out a candy bar. "Here, you want this?" He asked, hoping to distract the shadow. The shadow took a couple of steps forwards.

"Her aura is reacting favorably to the candy!" Dawn called. "Let her have it."

"Er- alright." Scott awkwardly tossed the candy bar in front of the shadow. "Here! Now let's pummel it while it's distracted!"

"Dakota help!" Dakota said as she started to step forwards, but Sam held an arm out, stopping her.

"I don't think that's necessary, look!"

Where the shadow once was, there was a slim teenaged girl, unwrapping the candy bar. She had short blonde hair and was wearing a tank top, black skirt, and black combat boots. Suddenly, she stopped unwrapping the candy bar. "I'm back? I'm back! Thank you!" She jumped to her feet and grinned. "I'm Lea again!" She twirled around excitedly, but lost her balance and tripped. Without thinking, Scott stepped forwards and caught her.

"Oh, um, thanks." Lea said, blushing slightly.

"Sha-some one hasn't known Scott for very long." Lightning sighed.

"Er, yeah." Scott said before setting Lea upright and letting her go. "Don't mention it. I mean seriously, don't mention it. Like, if you mention it, I may have to hurt you. Reputation and all." He scratched the back of his neck.

"Oh, don't worry." Lea looked around at the campers surrounding her. "Erm... who are you guys?"

* * *

The pain of another anchor to reality being reclaimed did little to upset the monster. He had won his two most coveted prizes. As expected, once he pulled the first under, the anguish took care of the second. Now they would both pay dearly- as soon as he dealt with the rest of the trash. It wouldn't do to have them going around, severing more limbs while he was holed up playing with his new toys. And Ash... if left alone, she could be dangerous. She could ruin everything.

He would obliterate her, then the Otherworld would be his sandbox.


	11. Chapter Ten: Twisting Alliance

(A/N: Hope you're enjoying the story so far! If you have any input, please review! I love reviews!)

* * *

"Interesting.." Benjamin observed as he slid through the obsidian dome and stepped onto the concrete floor of Mike's prison. "I theorized you would become a Remnant like the others, but you're something else entirely. Nameless? I presume?"

Whomever was in control of Mike's body answered as he stared at Benjamin through narrow pitch-black eyes.

"Benjamin. It's been too long." Mike's body stood up as his mouth twisted into a grin. "Just the person I wanted to see when I regained control." The black-eyed boy dashed towards Benjamin and grabbed his collar with one hand, clenching the other into a fist. "This'll be fun.. I'm going to enjoy making you pay."

"Hey, take it easy there, Nameless." Benjamin spoke quickly, knowing he only had a limited time to win the being over. "Sure, we might have not gotten along in the past, but it's a new day! A new dimension! Work with me, and I can assure you, both of us will benefit."

Nameless punched with his fist, hitting Benjamin in the abdomen.

"And why shouldn't I kill you right now?" He dropped the boy who was writhing in pain. "What can you offer me?"

"Look around you!" Benjamin gasped. "We're not on Planet Earth, I don't think we're even in the same universe. This is the Otherworld, and reality works differently here. If you think you can navigate your way around this place and take on Mikey-boy's friends by yourself, you're crazier than even I thought you were. They've already revived four Remnants, and I was only able to turn one of them. I'll bet you don't even know what I'm talking about. You'll have to learn quickly, and I'm the best available teacher." Benjamin got to his feet. "Kill me now, and you'll be stuck in this prison for eternity. Work with me, and we can take over this place. Then, if you want to attack me, we'll battle it out when it's just the two of us left. Surely your hatred of me can wait that long?" Benjamin offered his hand. The nameless entity controling Mike shook it hesitantly.

"You have your deal for now, Benjamin. But when the time comes..."

"..both of us will be looking forwards to it." Benjamin chuckled. "Now, let me show you how to get around this reality."

* * *

"So.. uh, are you going to give me my candy back now?" Scott asked Lea, holding out his hand expectantly. The remaining cast members had just given their newest rescue-ee a rundown of the events that transpired since their arrival in the Otherworld.

"Hmm? Oh, sure thing!" She handed it over. "Sorry about that, I don't know why I went so crazy for it. I mean, I love sugar, but nobody loves sugar THAT much."

"How's your memory?" Sam asked. "We'll be able to get you back to your boat, which should restore it fully, but you'll only have a little bit of time before we won't be able to hear you anymore. The more you tell us now, the better."

Lea put a hand to her forehead. "It's slowly coming back in pieces. It's kinda like a dream, the harder I try to remember everything, the further it runs away."

"Then let's head back to the starting area." Jo said authoritatively, looking annoyed. "We'll see what Lea remembers on the walk back. Hopefully these clothes will be dry by then." She looked at her soaked tracksuit and glared at Brick. "Why couldn't you move out of the way faster, Whizzy?"

"Sorry ma'am." Brick blushed. "Thank you for saving me though.."

"Hrmph," Jo grumbled and crossed her arms.

"Yeah," Staci started, "My great cousin Erica and her boyfriend Robby invented sexual tension. Without them, you two would be making out by now."

"I don't care what anyone else says!" Jo turned her anger to Staci. "Next time we head out, you? Are staying! Anyone who disagrees will have to take me on, one on one!"

Staci looked at the ground sadly. Dawn pet her on the arm.

"Don't worry," she reassured her, "Your aura clearly states you have an important part to play in this world. Your time will come."

"Just like my great-great-"

"Yup!" Dawn interrupted.

* * *

The campers were almost back at the black sand starting area when Lea stopped.

"Hold on!" She clasped one hand to her head and stuck the other one out wildly. "I think I'm starting to remember something."

"The twins!" Zoey exclaimed. "How could we forget? They mentioned something about your middle name."

"Uh, you mean.." Lea blushed. "It's actually kinda embarrassing."

"Well? What is it?" Scott crossed his arms impatiently. "Spill the beans."

"Ok," Lea started nervously, "But you have to promise not to say it's weird."

"Lightning would be Sha-prized if your middle name is weirder than anything we've already seen here." The rest of the cast nodded their assent.

"Ok, well, it's Louis."

There was a moment of silence, broken by Anne Marie.

"And HOW is that supposed to help us?" She sighed.

"I don't know!" Lea threw up her hands defensively. "All I can think of is this movie series. They had a character, a guy, whose first name was Louis and had the middle name Lea."

"And the twins mentioned you and Elena were talking about a movie series." Cameron contributed. "They said it helped you stay sane for so long."

"Great. So that's all we get? A movie series?" Jo sighed. "How is any of this going to be useful to us?"

"We learn more after Lea goes to portal?" Dakota mused.

"Great thinking Dakota!" Sam hugged his girlfriend, who smiled in pride. "In addition to finding the next camper, Lea can tell us the connection this movie has to this place. What's it called, anyways?"

"It's Broken Hearts: Bleeding minds." Lea offered. "Have any of you seen it?"

Zoey shook her head. "It sounds familiar, but I don't remember ever seeing it." Her fellow ex-competitors had equally clueless stares.

"I guess all that's left is for her to go Sha-bye-bye and tell us more stuff." Lightning said with a shrug. The teens soon arrived at the starting point, where there was something noticeably different. Namely, the absence of a certain intimidating chef.

"Ooook?" Jo quirked an eyebrow. "There's no way this can be good."


	12. Chapter Eleven: Splitting the Party

"This is hopeless!" Scott said as he threw himself on the sandy ground. "We aren't going to find him, at least not easily. He could be anywhere in this place."

"Scott does have a point." Lea said, with confidence. She remained seated during the search for Chef so she wouldn't accidentally step where she first arrived and trigger the portal before the group was ready. "I mean, even I can see that there's not really any place here to hide in this area. Chef probably went to one of the other areas, where it'll be near-impossible to find him if he's not also looking for us."

"Maybe we should make a new rule?" Zoey offered. "No one stays or goes anywhere by themselves. We have to be in groups of at least two. I mean, if that's okay with everyone."

"Agreed." Brick said immediately. "Anyone by themselves will have a bigger chance of getting lost or being taken, and we can't leave anyone behind."

"Uh, are you guys forgetting Vito?" Anne Marie butt in. "He was with the group, and he still disappeared."

"It won't be a foolproof safety measure." Cameron said, "But we need all the protection we can get."

"Well, I guess the next thing to do is to send Lea back and find out about the camper who was turned before her." Jo said. "Ready to go, Blondie?"

"Sha-wait." Lightning cut in, "Why are we rescuing the cast in reverse order? Why don't we just go after the first one who was taken next?"

"Think about it, Jockstrap." Jo started, "Blondie will probably remember the first cast member who turned, but then when we send that person back, they won't know about the next person who went insane since they weren't around. By going backwards, we make sure we get everyone."

"Jo has a point. The last thing we want to do is leave anyone behind." Brick said with certainity.

"Yeah, you can stop saying that any time now." Anne Marie said with a roll of her eyes.

"But do I have to go?" Lea asked. "Are you guys sure I won't be able to help you out here?"

"It's not that you won't be useful in this world," Zoey reassured her, "But we need the information you can give us when you regain your memory."

"Believe me," Scott said, "If we could just send back everyone who wasn't useful here, we'd be a small group."

"I sense that Lea going back will be the most useful outcome for both casts, as a whole." Dawn added. B nodded sympathetically.

"Ok then.." Lea sighed and stood up. "Here goes nothing. Anything you want me to focus on?"

"Your main assignment is the name, disposition, and location of the previous camper to turn." Brick said. "But if you can clarify anything about the campers Elena and Benjamin, or anything about this world in general, it would be a great help." Lea looked at the rest of the group and saw their agreement.

"Then here I go!" She said bravely, taking several steps forwards. The now-familiar scraping noise started and the portal opened. The cast caught a quick glimpse of Lea on a boat before the portal closed, and then:

"It worked!" Lea's excited voice was heard. "Let's see.. the next camper you'll want to find is Oliver. We lost him in the jungle. Be careful though, he was nice before he turned, but he's really big and strong. As for Elena and Benjamin, Elena told me a lot. Benjamin was the first to turn and-"

The campers stared at each other as Lea's voice cut off sharply.

"Okay, something's going on here." Jo said, looking around. "Reina and the twins had WAY more time to talk, and they faded out slowly, they didn't just cut off like that."

"That must be my fault.. I'm sorry." A familiar voice sounded from behind the cast. They quickly turned around and gasped almost collectively.

"Mike!" Zoey clapped her hands together.

"Vito!" Anne Marie squealed.

"How did you find us?" Cameron asked. "And what's wrong with your eyes?"

Zoey ran forwards and hugged Mike closely, but the rest of the campers took a step back cautiously when they saw that Mike's eyes were completely black.

"Zoey, be careful!" Dawn cried, holding a hand over her mouth. "There's something seriously wrong with his aura!"

"Huh?" Mike asked. "Oh, are my eyes weird? I guess they could be, but I can't exactly see my own eyes. It's probably some kind of after-effect from being under control of this place. The aura too, most likely. I'm just glad I was able to escape."

"Me too!" Zoey grinned and hugged him tighter.

"No!" Dawn insisted. "Zoey, get away! Everyone, get away!"

Zoey was about to open her mouth to speak when she felt the wind knocked out of her. Mike had punched her below the lungs. She didn't even have time to scream before he picked her up effortlessly and threw her, sending her crashing into Dawn.

"You're too smart for your own good, you little freak!" It was Mike's voice, but twisted with a cruelty none of the campers had heard from him before.

"Zoey! Dawn!" Brick called out, concerned, as he tried to help the two girls up.

"Not now cadet!" Jo growled. "We'll need your help to take him down. I don't know what he is, but he doesn't look like the creatures we faced before."

"Those Remnants?" Mike- or the thing controlling him- laughed deeply. "The four you've handled already were mere child's play. They'll just continue to get stronger, and then my power is something else entirely."

"Sha-thanks for the tip!" Lighting offered.

"But you won't be getting any more information out of me." The thing concluded. "And you won't be getting anything else from that strange little brat, not while I can help it!" With that, the Mike-creature leapt towards Zoey and Dawn on the ground. B immediately moved to protect them. He pushed the creature aside, where it crashed into the ground.

"Ungh.." It was slowly starting to get up.

"Oh no you don't!" Jo picked up Zoey's bow and notched an arrow. She pointed it towards the creature's throat.

"Jo, please don't!" Zoey was on the verge of tears when the jock fired the arrow.

-thunk-

The creature stood up and grinned at the situation. Brick was on his knees, wincing in pain from the arrow in his shoulder.

"You idiot!" Jo screamed. "Why did you get in my way!"

"We're not going to kill him.." came Brick's weak reply. "He's still one of our platoon."

"How touching.." The creature called. "But you should have killed Mike when you had the chance. Now that I know how strong you are, I'll need to pull more abilities and power from this place before I face you again."

"There won't Sha-be an again!" Lighting cried in rage before rushing to close the distance between him and the creature controlling Mike. Before he got the chance, however, the creature had seemingly vanished into thin air.

"Dammit!" Jo threw the bow to the ground. "We almost had him. You idiot!" She was glaring at Brick. "We need to gather more weapons. Next time I see that scrawny demon, he's dead!"

"No!" Zoey couldn't believe what she was hearing. "There's got to still be a way to save him! We saved the others."

"But the others were these things called Remnants, and Mike is something different." Sam explained. "Sorry Zoey." He offered consolingly.

"Whatever.." Jo growled. "Anyone who wants to leave this place, come with me. I've had enough with making nice with the things here." With that, she walked off towards the city. "Hurry up," she called back, "There have bound to be something we can use for weapons in an abandoned city."

Lightning, Scott, Sam, and Dakota immediately followed. Anne Marie got up to leave.

"Anne Marie!" Zoey cried. "You don't want to kill Mike, do you?"

"Sorry Red." Anne Marie said, shrugging. "Vito's a handsome piece of beefcake, but I won't get to enjoy him if he kills me, and there are plenty other fish in the sea."

B looked at Dawn, Zoey, and Brick, who were nursing their wounds, and Cameron and Staci, who were looking at the arrow in Brick's shoulder.

"You coming, Bev?" Scott asked, annoyed.

"Please, no!" Dawn begged. "We need to stick together!"

B looked undecided for a moment before slowly shaking his head.

"Fine then, stay with the losers! See if we care." Jo was still furious from the tone of her voice. "Survivors, let's go!"

As she held her throbbing abdomen, Zoey watched the six of them walk away. Within minutes, they were out of sight.

_Please_, she prayed silently, _please Mike, don't die.._


	13. Chapter Twelve: Battle Preparations

==Chapter 12==

"Alright crew." Jo called over the heads of the castmates who followed her. "First order of business is arming ourselves." They were a couple hours of walking into the cityscape, and some of the buildings were starting to look like they might have useful items. "Let's split up in three groups of two and look for weapons. Sam and Dakota, you two are together. Same with Anne Maria and Lightning. Scott, you're with me."

Scott narrowed his eyes. "And why am I stuck with you?"

"Because I still don't trust you nearly as far as I can throw you. Now, we'll meet back here on the path in an hour-"

"And Sha-how we gonna tell time in this place? It's not like we were wearing watches when we came here." Lightning protested.

"I've got a Lucy Couture original watch!" Anne Maria reached into her pouf. "I was keeping it in here so it wouldn't get damaged." She pulled out a heart-shaped watch with a pink wristband. When she looked at it, she let out a cry of dismay. "It broke!"

"Looks like it's just stopped." Sam said as he peered over Anne Maria's shoulder. "It might not be broken at all. This place may just have time that works differently from our world, so our equipment for telling time might all be useless here."

"Good, it better not be broken." Anne Maria said as she stuck the watch back in her pouf. "I paid two hundred dollars for it."

Jo smiled and nodded at Sam approvingly. She was worried at first if the gamer would be able to pull his own weight, but his mental capabilities were proving to be worth something. Plus, any defecit in his physical talents could be compensated for by Dakota. Jo held no illusions to the fact that if she cut Sam loose, she'd lose the freakishly strong mutant too.

"Then new plan. Search until I blow my whistle. When you hear the whistle, come back to our starting point." Jo looked at her group. "I think everyone here can handle that. Let's move it!"

* * *

"Sam?" Dakota asked as the two rummaged through something that was probably a ruined store. "Are we leaving Zoey and others behind?"

Sam held up a piece of concrete and, deciding it was the wrong weight and feel for a weapon, cast it aside.

"Dakota, I need you to promise to not tell anyone else what I'm about to tell you." Sam started. Dakota nodded, grinned, and made a motion to seal her lips.

"Alright. Well, we're staying with this group for now, but I'm not just going to leave the others to die. I don't know if we can still save Mike, but the other six aren't goners yet. I think Jo has a better chance of figuring out this place than Brick and his group, but when the time comes, we're going to go back and help. Well.." he frowned, "I'm going back to help. I'm not going to force you. Not that I could, anywa-" He was cut off by Dakota hugging him tightly.

"Of course Dakota go with Sam! Sam so sweet!" She smiled as she let him down. "When do we go?"

"Not until we find out more about this world. And I could probably use a weapon." He resumed digging through the rubble. "You're strong enough without one, but I'm definitely not."

"Dakota be Sam's weapon!" Dakota said, flexing.

"Aw," Sam couldn't help but smile. "That's sweet of you, but if we ever get separated, I might have to defend myself alone. But hopefully that won't happen. Now, lets keep looking."

* * *

Zoey hugged her knees to her chest as she looked around at the other campers in her group. Jo would have killed Mike right there if Brick hadn't stopped her, and now half the campers were wandering around who-knows-where with the will to end Mike's life. She wanted more than anything to run off into the dreamscape and search for him, but she had enough common sense to stay put, for now at least.

"Can't you just yank it out?" A frustrated Brick asked Cameron, who was examining the arrow protruding from his shoulder.

"From the medical texts I've read, I'm not sure if that would be the best idea." Cameron mused. "Pulling the arrow out could cause more bleeding, and it's not like we have matching-type blood transfusions here." Cameron gently touched the shaft of the arrow, causing Brick to wince. "On the other hand, leaving it in could mean a greater chance of infection if this land has bacteria. I really don't know."

"I know!" Everyone stopped and stared in shock at Staci, who had just uttered a sentence that didn't start with "Yeah," and continued on to be about her relatives.

"Er, I mean.." She looked at the ground awkwardly, "I was there when Scott came back from being healed, and he mentioned he was taken to a rocky beach. Maybe if we bring Brick to the beach, we'll run into whatever thing healed Scott, and it might heal Brick."

"That's a great idea Staci!" Cameron said, impressed. "You should speak up more often. About your own life, I mean. Not just all your relatives."

"But Scott said that the thing that healed him turned on him in anger." Dawn protested.

"It may not be completely safe," Zoey said, standing up, "But I think it's our best option." She brushed away the stubborn black sand that clung to her clothes. "Besides," She added, smiling at Brick, "Brick's a lot easier to get along with than Scott. I'm sure the healing creature will like him." Brick smiled weakly back at her.

"You have a good point." Dawn said as she too stood up. "But will Brick be able to make it to the beach?"

"My legs are fine, it's just my shoulder." Brick said as he tried to stand up. However, something seemed to be holding him back, making his every movement an agony. Whatever it was stemmed from the wound in his shoulder. "Gah! What is that!"

"The negative energy from Jo's rejection of you and willingness to leave you behind with an injury damaged your aura." Dawn explained. "It looks really bad.. We're fortunate that Zoey understands Mike wasn't in control when he attacked her, otherwise she'd have a similar injury."

"Huh?" Staci looked confused, "What does that mean?"

"We'll explain later." Zoey said as she exchanged a glance with Cameron. "First let's get Brick healed. I suppose we could try and coax the creature here to heal him-" she mused, but stopped when B walked over to Brick and simply picked up the cadet. "Or that works too. Thanks B!" B flashed an approving grin.

"So.. you don't mind if I come along?" Staci asked cautiously.

"Of course not! It would be best if we all stuck together." Dawn said with a smile at the bald girl. "Though.. maybe your relatives and their stories could stay behind?"

As the six teens started towards the beach, none of them noticed the sand they left behind starting to shift..


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Choices

"I have to say, Jo, I'm impressed." Scott was leaning against the concrete wall of a dilapidated building as the jock sifted through the rubble. "Leaving the others behind took serious kiwis, even I'm not that ruthless."

"I'm not listening.." Jo growled as she pulled out a rusty kitchen knife. "Ha! Victory!"

"Ooooh, a knife. Now we're saved." Scott rolled his eyes. "Believe me sister, this place is just toying with us, and it'll take more than a knife to cut our way out."

"Then what do you propose we do?" A small smile crept to her face as she found a metal pole that was probably once part of a broom. If she could find some string or tape, she could tie her finds together and make a decent spear.

"Propose? I'm not proposing anything. I had my fun being tricky back at the island, now I'm just along for the ride." He shrugged. "You, on the other hand... How does it feel leaving Bricky-boy and the others to their fates?"

"Shut up!" Jo turned on Scott and tightened her grip on her weapons. "You act like it was so easy, like I'm so heartless. Even though it's saving some of the group versus everyone dying here, it wasn't easy to go through with it. I don't want any of those losers to die, but if we have to leave some behind in order to have any survivors, it's the right choice."

"Hey," Scott grinned, "Whatever helps you sleep at night. Or, you know, not sleep at whatever time this is."

Jo did her best to ignore Scott as she continued her search, but his words stung. _I'm saving everyone I can, it's all I can do!_ She repeated in her head like a mantra.

* * *

"There's the ocean!" Dawn chirped excitedly as she pointed ahead. The rest of the group soon saw it too. It was a fairly normal looking ocean considering the odd quality of the rest of the Otherworld. There were no out of place objects on the rocky beach, and the sand was a normal whitish-tan.

"Yeah, are you sure we didn't just invent the way out?" Staci said, looking around. "This place looks like it could be from our world."

"I don't know.." Zoey said apprehensively, "Dawn, can you tell?" But the aura whisperer was otherwise occupied.

"We have somehow crossed into the realm of a troubled entity." She said, staring at a crop of rocks near the beach, "Be careful. Part of her is elsewhere, but part remains."

"Could you clarify?" Cameron asked warily.

"I'm sorry, but no." Dawn said. "I myself am not sure what this place is. I do know we are still in the other world though."

"What was that!" Brick said suddenly from his spot on one of B's shoulders. "You guys, I think I saw something move." He pointed towards the large rock formation with his good arm.

Zoey immediately notched an arrow to her bow. "I'll check it out." She volunteered, creeping towards the rocks.

"Be careful!" Dawn warned. "From what I can sense of its aura, it's not malevolent, but it could be dangerous."

Zoey nodded as she stepped closer. As she turned the corner, she gasped.

A small but chubby Siamese cat was hiding in the crack between two rocks, arching its back and looking terrified.

"You!" Zoey cried, "You were the cat we saw when Mike disappeared!" She pointed her arrow at the cat. "What did he call you? Sarah? Well Sarah, give him back or I'll shoot!"

The cat tilted her head to the side, looking confused.

"Zoey! Wait!" Dawn had caught up to the pigtailed archer. "This cat has a different aura from the one we saw earlier. The other one didn't even seem like a cat, but this one does, a little."

"What do we do then?" Zoey asked, lowering her bow.

"Could it be the thing that healed Scott?" Cameron asked as he and Staci caught up.

"Yeah, I doubt it." Staci said. "My gr- I mean, Scott, mentioned that the thing was human-ish."

_Hsssssssh!_

The cat had arched her back further, and hissed.

"You know Scott?" Dawn asked the cat. "You don't like him, do you?"

"Yeah, or maybe Scott lied." Staci offered. "I mean, he practically invented lying, and he isn't even related to me."

"It's worth a shot." Dawn said before pointing to B and Brick. "Um, do you see our friend over there little one? Can you heal him?"

The cat slowly made her way out of the crevice. She stalked over to B, keeping her body close to the ground. B gently set Brick on the ground, taking care to not put weight on his shoulder.

"Um, nice kitty?" Brick offered as the cat crept up to him. She put one dark paw on his shoulder and-

* * *

An eleven year old Elena walked down the familiar halls of the hospital with her schoolbook-and-DVD-stuffed red backpack on her back. She knew these twists and turns now to her destination. Although her first encounter a month ago with this part of the hospital was terrifying, this place was comforting now. She had friends here, friends she could visit when she had to go with her mom to work. She checked the "Visitor" badge pinned on her chest before entering the children's psychiatric ward.

"Elena!" Several excited voices flew towards the door as a small group of boys stopped their board game and looked up at their visitor. There were five of them at the game, one nurse overseeing them while reading a book, a silent boy with dark red hair in a wheelchair near the window, and a girl with short orange hair sitting on the side of a bed, writing furiously in a journal with a dull pencil.

"Hi everyone!" Her smile grew. "I'm going to go say hello to Shawn real quickly." She said, setting down her backpack and walking towards the boy in the wheelchair.

One of the boys at the board game, a scrawny dark-skinned boy with flat-laying black hair, walked over to the girl on the bed.

"This is Elena, the girl that we said got mistaken for you." He clarified. "She visits here a bunch now."

"Shut up!" The girl said, glaring at him.

"Gerta, we don't use that kind of language here." The nurse called from her book.

"I'm not Gerta!" She screamed. "I'm Elena! That's Gerta over there!"

Elena stopped as the orange-haired girl pointed at her.

"I'm sorry? I was mistaken for you and brought here a month ago, but.."

"NO!" She wailed. "You're the crazy one!"

"Gerta, it's alright." The dark-skinned boy said, trying to be calming.

Without another word, Gerta threw the notebook and pencil in the boy's face and jumped off the side of the bed. The nurse stood up from her chair, but she was at the other side of the large room. Elena was only a couple meters away, and she quickly moved between Gerta and the boy.

"Elena, Mike, both of you get away!" The nurse called as she pushed a button on her intercom and sprinted to the scuffle.

Stubbornly, Elena held her arms out, trying to keep the scared Gerta contained. She wasn't expecting the other girl to ram into her and send them both falling to the ground in a tumble of limbs. There was a sharp, stabbing pain in her right wrist as she heard the other patients screaming. She could see another nurse and a doctor rush through the door and into the room. As the wailing and cursing Gerta was pulled off of her, Elena looked to her wrist and saw several deep, bleeding bite marks.

* * *

_Why this? Why now?_

_You.. you made the same choice, didn't you?_

_Okay then.._

* * *

Zoey slowly opened her eyes and looked around her. The rest of her companions were lying on the beach, looking like they were starting to wake up as well. Most notably, Brick was missing an arrow to the shoulder, but Zoey couldn't see from her current angle if the wound was healed. She turned as she felt something brush against her arm.

"Huh?" The little cat was sitting at Zoey's elbow, holding an arrow with a bloody tip in her mouth. The cat moved her head slightly closer, as if presenting the arrow as an offering.

"Oh, er, no thank you.." She uttered nervously.

"It worked!" Brick cheered and pumped his fist in the air. "Thanks kitty!" The cat dropped the arrow and ran over to Brick. She curled up next to him and started purring.

"Yeah, it looks like she really likes you." Staci said. "I wonder if there's a specific reason."

"It was Brick's choices." Dawn said knowingly. "I'm not sure beyond that, but that's why she was so happy to heal him.

With a grin, Brick picked up the cat and stood up. "It was an honor to be of service, ma'am."

The cat bopped him on the nose with a dark brown paw.


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Prelude to Battle

"So.." Zoey wondered as she looked around at her remaining castaways. "Should we go back to the main area? I'm not quite sure what to do next."

"Can we keep her?" Brick asked as he scratched the cat on the chin. "I want to name her 'Prada,' er.." He stopped as the rest of the group looked at him curiously, "I mean, 'Sergeant! ' yeah!"

"I don't mind keeping her," Zoey started, "But I think her name is Sarah. At least, that's what Mike called the fake cat that looked like her earlier."

"About Mike.." Staci began, "I think I had a dream about him while the cat healed Brick. Did that happen to anyone else?"

"If it was in a hospital with a girl getting bitten, then yes." Dawn said. B nodded his head.

"There was also that other vision with Mike and Elena in the hospital back when we rescued Lea." Brick said, deep in thought.

"Then there was the one that I saw in the jungle." Zoey said, "I think that one was just me though.. It was when Elena was mistaken for Gerta and they gave her a shot to put her to sleep. Mike wasn't there though.."

"But why was Mike in a hospital?" Staci looked confused, as did Brick and B.

"It's probably because-" Cameron started, but quickly stopped himself.

"I think we should tell them." Zoey reassured him. "If everyone knowing the truth can help save Mike, it's worth it."

"Okay.." Cameron took a deep breath, "Mike has Multiple Personalities. He had trouble controlling them, but he seemed to be getting better at it. I can imagine that's probably why he was in the hospital as a child at times. It's also possible than Mike was under the control of one of his personalities when he hurt Zoey and attacked the rest of us."

"I'm almost sure of it." Dawn said. "There was something other than Mike in control of his body and aura at the time."

"Maybe if we get more of those visions we'll find out more about what's controlling Mike, and how to stop it!" Zoey said.

"But how are we going to trigger them?" Cameron asked.

"Sarah brought on the last one." Brick suggested. "Maybe she can give us more information?" He scratched the little cat behind the ears. "How about it, cutie? How about another vision for Uncle Brick?"

Sarah looked curiously at Brick and tilted her head to the side. Nothing happened.

"Er, okay.." Brick scratched the back of his neck. "Guess that didn't work."

"Well, we could try to save another one of those old campers.." Staci suggested. "Maybe they might know something?"

"Seems as solid a plan as any." Brick said. "They might be able to give us more information about Elena, who seems to have some connection with Mike, and also this pl- Sarah!" The cat was rubbing against Brick's legs, trying to get the cadet's attention. "Not now!"

"Where was the next camper located?" Zoey asked. "I think Lea mentioned that much."

"The jungle. She said he was named Oliver, and that he was pretty strong." Cameron answered. "She wasn't able to say anything else really before she was cut off."

"Wow Cameron, nice memory." Staci grinned.

"It's okay, Staci." Dawn stated. "You don't need to dole out compliments because you're afraid we'll abandon you as our friend. We're sticking together!"

"Um..." Staci frowned, "Thanks, but how did you know?"

Zoey fidgeted with her bow. "Guys, we probably shouldn't waste more time, if that's okay with you guys. We can't let the others hurt Mike or the other cast."

"Good point." Brick said as he scooped up Sarah. "Let's move out!"

* * *

Jo looked approvingly at her armed and assembled team. She was able to construct her knife-spear with some twine from the rubble. Anne Maria had found a Y-shaped piece of pipe along with an elastic band that she fashioned into a slingshot. Her ammo was easy to find; she simply used pieces of concrete. Lightning had also fashioned weapons from pipe. He used two intersecting T-shaped pieces as a pair of tonfa. (Or Lightning-rods, as the jock had dubbed them.) Sam had lucked out, finding a mostly intact fireman's axe. Dakota was her own weapon, being unable to find anything that she could easily wield at her size. And Scott..

"You could have at least TRIED to find something to fight with." Jo growled.

"Hey, like I said, sweetheart, I'm just here for the ride. I don't think these weapons are going to help us against this place." Scott shrugged.

"Lightning's got no place on this team for sha-losers!" Lightning protested. "Why didn't you just stay back with the others if you weren't willing to fight?"

"Please.." Scott rolled his eyes. "Stay back with the other group? I don't want to have to listen to Staci blabbing about her family, or Dawn going on about auras, or Zoey crying over Mike, or Bev- well, I guess I don't have to listen to Bev anyways, but he still annoys me. As much as I hate to say it, you five make up the less offensive circle."

"Fine then!" Jo snarled, "Just don't expect us to save you if a Remnant starts eating you."

"Whoa," Scott held his hands up. "Some one doesn't know how to take a compliment. Must not get them very often."

"SHUT. UP." Jo turned away from Scott, determined to ignore him, when she saw a shadow dart between two concrete pillars.

"Warriors.." She started, leveling her spear at the pillars. "We have our first victim."

* * *

Zoey looked around as her group arrived at the central black sandy area. She couldn't place it, but something seemed off. She just put it off as mental exhaustion. Even though she wasn't physically tired, the nonstop activity was taking its toll on her emotional state.

"Alright," she said, shaking off her weariness, "We should head to the jungle next. I mean, if that's okay with everyo-"

That was when she felt a hand reach out and grab her ankle. Suddenly, her leg turned cold.


End file.
